Be Thou My Vision

Keith & Kristyn Getty recorded “Be Thou My Vision” for 2021’s Confessio: Irish American Roots, an album built around a ten-month research trip to Ireland tracing how Irish and Scottish musical heritage shaped American church music, featuring guest turns from Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss, and Kirk Whalum. It earned the album a Grammy nomination for Best Roots Gospel Album, its first.

The Gettys’ version leans into Celtic folk instrumentation – fiddle, acoustic guitar, a lightly syncopated arrangement that nods toward the hymn’s traditional “Slane” melody’s own Irish folk origins – without ever drifting far from a clear, singable melodic line a congregation could pick up on first listen. That’s the whole point of the Gettys’ career: writing and recording hymns meant to actually be sung back in a church service, not just listened to. Judged by that standard, this is a success, and a pleasant one.

Judged purely as a recording to sit with on its own, though, it’s the least adventurous of this week’s three versions – competent, warm, and essentially risk-free, next to Morrison’s loose intensity and Assad’s austere conviction. That’s not really a criticism so much as a different job description: this version exists to be reproducible by a volunteer worship team on a Sunday morning, and it does that job better than either of the other two recordings would.

7.9/10 – the most functional of the three, which is also, unavoidably, the least striking.

Hero image: Keith & Kristyn Getty, public domain photo courtesy of Getty Music.